The Relationship between Financial Development and Energy Consumption in South Africa

Effects of globalization, foreign direct investment and economic growth on renewable electricity consumption

Renewable energy has been seen as a viable solution to the problems of environmental degradation and the energy crisis. This study examines the long - and short-run linkages between economic globalization, foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and renewable electricity consumption in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. Therefore, this study uses the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to measure the relationship between constructs based on data collected from 2000 to 2020. The overall results show the collaborative integration of Belt and Road (BRI) countries in terms of globalization, economic growth, and renewable electricity utilization. The results show that there is a long-term positive relationship between FDI and renewable electricity consumption, but a negative relationship in the short term. Furthermore, economic growth is positively correlated with renewable electricity consumption in the long run and negatively correlated in the short run. This study suggests that the governments of BRI countries should encourage globalization by improving technology and knowledge related to renewable electricity consumption in all areas.

The Impact of Financial Development on Renewable Energy Consumption: A Multidimensional Analysis Based on Global Panel Data

In this paper, we examined the impact of financial development on renewable energy consumption from a global perspective based on a dynamic panel model and panel data of 103 economies. We conducted the research from the different levels of financial development using an index system including nine variables, and also explored national heterogeneity by dividing samples into developed economies and developing economies. The empirical results indicated that the financial development had a positive impact on renewable energy consumption from the macro perspective, and this effect was mainly driven by the development of a financial institution (mainly including bank). Further analysis on the depth, access, and efficiency of a financial institution and financial market (mainly including stock market and bond market) revealed that all three aspects of a financial institution had a positive influence on renewable energy consumption, while this effect only existed in the aspect of efficiency for a financial market. The investigation of national heterogeneity showed that the financial development performed well in promoting renewable energy consumption in developed economies, while this positive effect only existed for financial institutions in developing economies. We suggest to policymakers to attach importance to the positive effect of financial development when formulating renewable-energy-related policies, and provide a system guarantee for renewable energy enterprises concerning financial sectors in developing economies.